Tournament organizers, Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar and Mark “MarkMan” Julio explained the exclusion of the said fighting game in a recent EVO 2018 broadcast. In particular, Cuellar said of the game:

“It was on a slippery slope and it had a lot of competition going forward, and it just kind of… fizzled. Not to talk smack on Marvel or anything. It’s always been a great game for EVO… It was the main game for eight straight years… But I don’t think people are playing it, and that’s the problem”

Amid the backlash from MVCI’s removal, Julio also defended EVO’s stance in a tweet that explains everything:

“I’m sure he heard it loud and clear from twitter. I go to many fgc events, probably the most outside of sponsored players. I know that MVC:I is being played. Hard to include a game that doesn’t have support. I’m not talking about Capcom, cuz they’ve supported it the most… “

I’m sure he heard it loud and clear from twitter. I go to many fgc events, probably the most outside of sponsored players. I know that MVC:I is being played. Hard to include a game that doesn’t have support. I’m not talking about Capcom, cuz they’ve supported it the most… https://t.co/CSQf5LPGIt

Adding salt to MVCI’s wounds is the recent report that said game was also given the snub in the upcoming Capcom Pro Tour 2018. In a press release announcing the tour’s first two stops, the said tournament will only feature one game, Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition (SFV:AE). Kotaku also confirmed from a Capcom Pro Tour representative that the lack of MVCI was not an oversight, stating that the Pro Tour would just focus on SFV:AE from here on out.

MVCI was already excluded from last year’s Pro Tour because it was already too late to add to its lineup considering the game’s release in September of last year. Instead, a separate tournament was organized, called Battle of the Stones, in Anaheim, California for the Playstation Experience last December 2017. Because of the tournament’s reception and the ample time MVCI had to get back on its feet, fan speculation were siding with the hopes that the fighting game would make it to the next Pro Tour.

Flames of the said speculations were further fanned when a Youtube video was accidentally released, detailing plans for the game’s inclusion in the Pro Tour on a regular basis. Said plans were reportedly made by John Diamonon, Capcom’s senior director of licensing and e-sports, which made it all the more legitimate. However, everything went down the drain after these two major announcements.

It seems that Capcom has gone quiet on everything related to MVCI, and we can speculate that the company is slowly easing off the game. Instead, efforts are being poured out for SFV:AE, especially with its increasing roster of characters, both new and returning. With the arrival of the much-anticipated and well-received Dragon Ball FighterZ and the continued outpouring of support from the other EVO games lineup, MVCI is pushed further into the backburner as a poor choice for this generation’s line of fighting games. Combine that with its negative reviews and lack of appeal from the gaming audience, and we’re sure to see MVCI completely disappear from the map.